BofA's Lewis Takes Fire for Merrill Deal, But Bernanke Under Scrutiny Too

What's Bernanke still doing here, anyway? He should have left when his buddy Hank did.

Keep the government out of the private sector, they only screw things up.

Everyone was throwing fastballs to stop a world-wide financial meltdown. No one should be surprised as to what we are hearing. Another Congressional committee investigating the obvious.

can we keep it real? there ain't nothing goin on except gov't guarantees. u think we're gonna recover on that? even with another 3T from the gov't? no. we as a country need income and we don't have it. It's not even about spending too much, it's about income. Anyone who's gone bankrupt knows that. Profits on consumer spending ain't gonna cut it. Holla if you think the banking model is gonna revive us... so quiet in here.

can we keep it real? there ain't nothing goin on except gov't guarantees. u think we're gonna recover on that? even with another 3T from the gov't? no. we as a country need income and we don't have it. It's not even about spending too much, it's about income. Anyone who's gone bankrupt knows that. Profits on consumer spending ain't gonna cut it. Holla if you think the banking model is gonna revive us... so quiet in here.

Llet's see some e-mails from Barney Frank and Chris Dodd to Fanny and Freddy hidding huge losses and sticking it Franks way to the public.

Talk about "keeping it real", let's not forget the role our friendly congress-people play in this whole mess. Shamelessly pandering to the humanoids in their districts, they pile on like rats onto the perceived "enemies of the people" and act like nothing so much as innocent bystanders. All the while, the corrupt likes of Chris Dodd, Barney Frank (to name the most prominent pair) were the ones directly responsible for the carnage at Fannie, Freddy and their feeder institutions. //////// ////////// And these gutless wonders from BofA and the like sit there and genuflect to the scumlords. We can send them all packing next year. Ready, people? Time for a gut check.

Poster #2 forgets the massive fraud perpetrated by the govn. - they contributed to all this. 1st Clinton's administration pressures Fannie & Freddie to lower their credit standards so that the poor can obtain a home lone 2nd Clinton repeals the GLass-Steagall Act, 3rd Jessie Jackson shows up at a BofA share holders meeting to chastize Ken for not lending more to the poor 4th Govn passes community reinvestment act. 4th Govn encourages lending to illegals - need I say more. And why is no one outraged that executives at Fannie & Freddie will be receiving $210 million in bonuses over an 18 month period or that GM shareholders are given the shaft yet AUW become part owners even though they never supported GM by purchasing shares.

I think Ben should be jailed with Hank in the same cell.!

hmm, now we have proof the feds strongarmed lewis to lose billions on merril lynch, proof they strongarmed the TARP banks to give up billions on Chrysler, and proof they are strongarming creditors to give up billions on GM, with secret guarantees. how much longer before we see they strongarming the TARP banks to buy the GM and chrysler stocks from the union to complete the money laundering? The feds and the president are rapidly eroding the concept of honesty at the highest levels. and dont get me talking about the overt lies from Big O about jobs creation...

I have moved all my money out of B of A. I don't like how they do business. I had two eight figure accounts with the above mentioned. I was treated as a number rather than a client. If your wondering I moved the money and split it between SunTrust, UBS, and Nationwide Bank. They treat me like a valued client. B of A and senior leaders are going to get what is coming to them. Greed is sickening!

I'm a B of A Stockholder, and I fired Lewis yesterday. He should have emptied his desk by now been gone.

1) Shutdown Wall Street day trading. These bankers steal your money from every trades 2) Arrest the top 10% earners in Wall Street, prosecute them as the terrorists then jail them in Cuba.

The public is always looking for scaoegoats and conspiracies. The congress is looking for personal publicity and the media is accommodating both. Bernanke is a man of great courage. He had to act qucidkly to try to save the economy and in my view did a great job. A brilliant, courageous man. Can you imagine the pressure he was under. All we have to do is have 20-20 hindsight and belly-ache---Find some one to hang the blame on.

have any of those turnips in D. C. look between their legs for ba!!s.

It will all turn out well...except we, the taxpayers, and our grandchildren will be paying forever, because of our corrupt government dealings. This will continue as long as we have have the likes of Frank, Pelosi and Dodd.

In response to: "....forgets the massive fraud perpetrated by the govn. - they contributed to all this. 1st Clinton's administration pressures Fannie & Freddie to lower their credit standards so that the poor can obtain a home lone 2nd Clinton repeals the GLass-Steagall Act..." you are soooo right on that.. People just default to "the past 8 years" comment.. People, please...please...please read up on this stuff... You'll be amazed (maybe even stunned) by the details. Go ahead, read about the history of all this dating back to the mid-late 90's.. I don't want to point fingers at any one particular administration (lets face it, everyone had their little piece even the people) but its always good to read the facts and how, when all put together gives us this nice big mess..

Bingo! Nail hit! We have a winnah! This poster "gets it" and so should the rest of ya=========Poster #2 forgets the massive fraud perpetrated by the govn. - they contributed to all this. 1st Clinton's administration pressures Fannie & Freddie to lower their credit standards so that the poor can obtain a home lone 2nd Clinton repeals the GLass-Steagall Act, 3rd Jessie Jackson shows up at a BofA share holders meeting to chastize Ken for not lending more to the poor 4th Govn passes community reinvestment act. 4th Govn encourages lending to illegals - need I say more. And why is no one outraged that executives at Fannie & Freddie will be receiving $210 million in bonuses over an 18 month period or that GM shareholders are given the shaft yet AUW become part owners even though they never supported GM by purchasing shares.

Congress ought to move on.

I think Lewis is actually pretty brilliant. He turned the MAC clause against Bernanke and Paulson and used it as leverage to buy Merrill... leverage for TARP monies, which he's already admitted that without, he never would have even considered the deal. And now, by appearing to have been squeezed by the government to just "do it", he's shifted the blame to the Treasury and the Fed. He kept over-paid executive bonuses in place (they were, after all, contractual), and kept just enough (read "non-disclosure") from the stockholders to push the whole thing through. Early rumors indicate the MAC was so tight he wouldn't have been able to nix the deal anyway. Only time - and more "committee" revelations - will tell all. And Lewis won't lose a thing - I doubt he really gave a damn if the Feds "fired" him, he was about to retire anyway.